Cashore Marionettes open W&J Arts Series

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Washington & Jefferson College’s 2012-13 Arts Series season at Olin Fine Arts Center opens at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 9 with a performance by the Cashore Marionettes.

“This year’s Arts Series takes us from classical to contemporary; from an American Shakespeare Center-production to duets from operetta and Broadway; from marionettes to a PBS mainstay musician,” Dan Shaw of the Olin Fine Arts Center said. “With a high-energy Celtic troupe to screenings of award-nominated short subject films, our coming season is diverse enough for everyone’s taste.”

The Cashore Marionettes reinvent the art of puppetry in “Life In Motion.” Award-winning Joseph Cashore creates and manipulates the life-like marionettes. The performance is for adults and young adults, and is not recommended for those younger than 12.

Other Arts Series performances include:

n The American Shakespeare Center: “The Duchess of Malfi,” 7:30 p.m. Oct. 22 – Since 1988, the American Shakespeare Center has produced English Renaissance plays in a bold, fresh style. “The Duchess of Malfi,” written by John Webster in 1612-13, is based on a true story. The play begins as a love story, with a duchess who marries beneath her class, and ends as a nightmarish tragedy as her two brothers exact their revenge, destroying themselves in the process.

n Tomáseen Foley’s “A Celtic Christmas,” 3 p.m. Dec. 9 – “A Celtic Christmas” recreates the joy and innocence of a night before Christmas in a farmhouse in the remote parish of Teampall, an Ghleanntain in the west of Ireland, where the neighbors gather around the fire to grace the long wintry night with the laughter of their stories, the joy of their music and dances. The performance features Marcus Donnelly from Co. Galway.

n Grande Romanza: Songs from Broadway and Operetta, 8 p.m. March 8 – Music from the turn of the 20th century, Rogers and Hammerstein, “Phantom of the Opera,” “Brigadoon,” “The Merry Widow” and selections from operettas, including “Firefly,” “Desert Song” and “Maytime,” will be presented by Stefano and Nina Tanchietti, with accompanist Maria de los Angeles Rivera.

n Jeffrey Siegel presents “Keyboard Conversations,” 7:30 p.m. April 25 – Recently featured on PBS, “Keyboard Conversations” is an unusual concert-plus-commentary in which Siegel speaks to the audience about the music before performing each work in its entirety. In this performance, Siegel will present “Gershwin and Friends!”

Season tickets for all six Arts Series events are $48 for general admission, $38 for senior citizens 60 and older, W&J alumni and non-W&J students, and $28 for children 12 years and younger.

For more information about tickets and a schedule of events, call 724-223-6546 or visit www.washjeff.edu/arts_series.html.